After watching a truly fascinating 3rd round yesterday, I sit here 3 hours away from network coverage and 2 hours west of Augusta watching the trees sway outside my office window in suburban Atlanta. Saturday at Augusta is traditionally called moving day and only two players seemingly moved up the board while many gaudy 'name' players slid back, the most notable being 2nd-ranked Phil Mickelson.
Phil's play was truly shocking. He easily threw away 4 shots on holes 8, 10, 15 & 16 and really it came down to really poor putting. Sure, he got robbed on his pitch shot on #8, but following up with a sloppy 3-putt is inexcusable for someone with his pedigree. Didn't this look like the 0-for-43 Phil forcing shots on #6 and #16? Winged Foot surely can't still be in his head, can it?
So who did move up the leaderboard into Sunday contention? Let's start with Englishman Paul Casey. A great 32 on the front nine was followed up by a 37 that included 3 bogies on the back nine. Casey's reaction afterwards with coach Peter Kostis? He was happy and content with his 69. Um, 3 bogies on the back nine while in contention is not really stuff of champions, Paul. I didn't like what I saw from this guy in the press conferences and I think he may not be a factor coming into the house on Sunday. Still too early.
Then there's Tiger, who claimed he couldn't have shot worse than the 68 strokes he posted. Maybe so, but he did pass 8 players and probably left #18 thinking he was going to be only 3 shots behind teeing it up today. Instead, he has to make up 6 strokes on Immelman. Still, with only 1 guy ahead of him ever to win a tournament with him in the field, he must think it's time to finally come from behind in a major to win #14 and get everyone psyched to talk Grand Slam.
Let's talk about the 6 stroke lead. After Tiger posted -5, it looked like perhaps these 4 guys ahead of him, Immelman, Snedeker, Flesch and Casey were actually going to come back to Tiger. Immelman seemed to be simply treading water, Snedeker bogied #11, #12 AND #13, Flesch bogied #14 and Casey, as mentioned earlier, had a couple himself. But wait...this wasn't your older brother's tournament of 3-4 years ago. Immelman plays the last 6 holes in -3, Snedeker bounces back with 3 birdies of his own in the last 5 holes and Flesch and Casey steady the ship coming in. Now we have an intriguing Sunday tournament. Will Tiger try to force the action? You know he wants to throw a couple of early birdies on the board to get the guys thinking, but he himself has said he needs to be patient this week and with the windy conditions, he may remain patient. But if he remains too cautious and the leaders continue to strike the ball solid and post 72 or 73, Tiger will not be in the mix. So I would love to know what Tiger's thinking strategy-wise about now.
Before we talk about the other 3 leaders, shall we talk about the other top guns who did absolutely nothing on Saturday? This includes such luminaries as major winners Weir, Singh, Furyk and Goosen. I mean, it's hard to believe that all these guys, plus Ryder Cupper Westwood all played about even par or worse for the day. I really can't comment too much more since none of these guys had much air time, but it seems like Furyk is still in a putting slump and after his eagle on #13 to get to -4, Goosen must have hit a couple of wayward drives coming in. Did you see VJ's putt on #18? Pushed it about 6 inches...not even close. I think VJ has to be satisfied with his one green jacket, cause that's all he win ever win.
A changing of the young guard has arrived. Good-bye Sergio, Chucky Three Sticks and Adam Scott and hello Trevor Immelman, Brandt Snedeker and Sean O'Hair. OK, so Sergio and Adam Scott should get their major chances here and there, but they are almost considered veterans at this point and clearly are not delivering. Meanwhile, Immelman, who stared down Tiger at the former Western Open a few years back, his gleaned tremendous confidence from Gary Player's continued compliments, comparing his swing to Ben Hogan's and making him a President's Cup pick a few years back. I love Snedeker's pre-shot routine and this guy can putt. Sean O'Hair is coming into his own and tried to make a run Saturday before dumping one in the pond on #11 trying to draw one into the back pin, a mental error trying that shot.
Well, Sunday truly should be fun with the winds up, the pressure up and Tiger Woods right behind the leaders. Really, 2 of these 4 guys should perform well on Sunday. What to make of 40-year old Steve Flesch? He has 4 PGA wins, but they are all at 2nd-tier events (Yes, Colonial is a 2nd tier event now my friends). I think he can hang in there due to his prowess on the par 5's, but really, he has never seen a stage this big before. Paul Casey's over/under is truly 75 today. That leaves our two leaders. Immelman is bred for stardom and expects to be here. Will he want it too much or will his recent health issues give him the proper perspective to take it home? Snedeker seems to me to be living the American dream and has a "well why not" attitude to his play so far. I'm not saying he's immune to the pressure, but if he can get through the first nine at 35-37, he should be there until the end.
Besides the 5 guys at -5 or better, is anything else up to the task of making a run? The only one above 2 under is Tiger's Whipping Boy, Stewart Cink. I heard an interesting fact this morning. Tiger's last 4 wins have come with Stewart Cink his playing partner. Uh, Tiger is paired with Cink today. It couldn't be, could it? Nah, Tiger is 0-for-ever in coming from behind in the majors, right? Well, he is pretty good. Can't wait to watch it all unfold later today. A tradition unlike any other, Sunday at the Masters.
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